अदृष्टपूर्वं तं दृष्ट्वा नानारत्नमयं मृगम्।
विस्मयं परमं सीता जगाम जनकात्मजा॥
adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ taṁ dṛṣṭvā nānā-ratnamayaṁ mṛgam
vismayaṁ paramaṁ sītā jagāma janakātmajā
adṛṣṭa-pūrvam = which she had never seen before; tam = that; dṛṣṭvā = upon seeing; nānā-ratnamayam = and which was filled with the splendor of various gems; mṛgam = deer; vismayam = astonished; paramam = greatly; sītā = Sītā-devī; jagāma = became; janaka-ātmajā = the daughter of King Janaka.
Upon seeing that deer which she had never seen before and which was filled with the splendor of various gems, Sītā-devī, the daughter of King Janaka became greatly astonished.
[1] grāmaś ca nagaraṁ caiva pattanaṁ kharvaṭaṁ puram / kheṭakaṁ kusumaṁ caiva śibiraṁ rājavāsikam / senā-mukham iti tv evaṁ daśadhā kīrtitaṁ budhaiḥ / viprāṇāṁ ca sabhṛtyānāṁ vāso grāma itīritaḥ / sa eva viprair ākīrṇas tv agrahāra iti smṛtaḥ / kuṭumbi-bhedair ekona-triṁśadbhiś ca samanvitaḥ / aneka-nārī-sambaddhaṁ nānā-śilpi-janair vṛtam / kraya-vikrayakaiḥ kīrṇaṁ sarva-devaiḥ samanvitam / nagaraṁ tv iti vikhyātaṁ pattanaṁ śṛṇu sāmpratam / dvīpāntarāgata-dravya-kraya-vikrayakair yutam / pattanaṁ tv abdhi-tīre syāt tayor miśraṁ tu kharvaṭam / kraya-vikrayakair yuktaṁ nānā-jāti-samanvitam / tantuvāya-samāyuktaṁ tat puraṁ tv iti kathyate / etair adhiṣṭhitaṁ yat tat kheṭakaṁ parikīrtitam / teṣām ekāntareṣv eva vāsaḥ kusumam ucyate. (Vāstu-śāstra)
[2] ratnaṁ sva-jātau śreṣṭhe ’pi. (Amara)
[3] tanūruhaṁ roma loma. (Amara)
GLOSS. “The daughter of King Janaka became greatly astonished” means “The daughter of King Janaka seemed to become greatly astonished.”
NOTE. Sītā-devī is the goddess of fortune, the inseparable consort of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The status of the Supreme Lord’s consort is clear from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.11.20:
anapāyinī bhagavatī śrīḥ sākṣād ātmano hareḥ
“The goddess of fortune, Śrī, who never leaves the Lord’s side, appears with Him in this world as the representation of His internal potency.”
Prabhupāda’s disciples have commented on the above Bhāgavatam verse as follows:
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, the goddess of fortune is the original source of all material opulence. Material nature is directly controlled by the Lord’s inferior energy, Mahā-māyā, whereas the goddess of fortune is His internal, superior energy. Still, the opulence of the Lord’s inferior nature has its source in the supreme spiritual opulence of the goddess of fortune. As stated in Śrī Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra:
paramātmā harir devas tac-chaktiḥ śrīr ihoditā
śrīr devī prakṛtiḥ proktā keśavaḥ puruṣaḥ smṛtaḥ
na viṣṇunā vinā devī na hariḥ padmajāṁ vinā
“The Supreme Soul is Lord Hari, and His potency is known in this world as Śrī. Goddess Śrī is known as prakṛti, and the Supreme Lord Keśava is known as the puruṣa. The divine goddess is never present without Him, nor does He ever appear without her.”
Also, Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.8.15) states:
nityaiva sā jagan-mātā viṣṇoḥ śrīr anapāyinī
yathā sarva-gato viṣṇus tathaiveyaṁ dvijottamāḥ
“She is the eternal mother of the universe, the goddess of fortune of Lord Viṣṇu, and she is never separated from Him. In the same way that Lord Viṣṇu is present everywhere, so is she, O best of brāhmaṇas.”
Also in Viṣṇu Purāṇa (1.9.140):
evaṁ yathā jagat-svāmī deva-devo janārdanaḥ
avatāraṁ karoty eva tathā śrīs tat-sahāyinī
“Thus, in the same way that the Lord of the universe, the God of gods, Janārdana, descends to this world, so His consort, the goddess of fortune, does also.”
The pure spiritual status of the goddess of fortune is described in the Skanda Purāṇa:
aparaṁ tv akṣaraṁ yā sā prakṛtir jaḍa-rūpikā
śrīḥ parā prakṛtiḥ proktā cetanā viṣṇu-saṁśrayā
taṁ akṣaraṁ paraṁ prāhuḥ parataḥ param akṣaram
harir evākhila-guṇo ’py akṣara-trayam īritam
“The inferior infallible entity is that nature who manifests as the material world. The goddess of fortune, on the other hand, is known as the superior nature. She is pure consciousness and is under the direct shelter of Lord Viṣṇu. While she is said to be the superior infallible entity, that infallible entity who is greater than the greatest is Lord Hari Himself, the original possessor of all transcendental qualities. In this way, three distinct infallible entities are described.”
Thus, although the inferior energy of the Lord is infallible in her function, her power to manifest temporary illusory opulences exists by the grace of the internal energy, the goddess of fortune, who is the personal consort of the Supreme Lord.
Therefore Mother Sītā’s bewilderment about the deer was merely a pretense on her part to nourish Lord Rāma’s pastimes.